Would a tripod help?

[PatrickH]

Hi everyone,

I've owned a G1 since February and although very happy with it I am sometimes dissappointed that what looked like a good shot is actually not sharp enough when I download to the PC.

For instance, a shot I looked at today taken at 1/200th looks awfully blurred, and this is quite a common occurence.

Should I just go for higher shutter speeds and concentrate more on a steady hold, or would a mini tripod be better?

[Eric F.]

Hi Patrick,

The focus on the G1 is sometimes a problem.:(

Here are some of my best solutions, which have come from expermenting as well as sharing from others on this forum.

(1) As the main subject gets farther away the less the problem. I have found that more than 10 feet away most photos come out rather well. Those taken in P mode are 90% in focus, handheld. The other 10% are most likely human error. It is always best to brace your camera well to increase your odds. The LCD will allow you to postion your camera with elbows on chest, ground, tree etc. I have found that the elbows on sides works good.

(2) When you are less than 10 feet the % of photos is less. Most likely from movement. The closer you get the more important this becomes. Macros and slower shutter speeds even more. This is where a TRIPOD IS IMPORTANT if you want to get the % up. The problem is compounded if you combine lowlight and macro and shallow depth of field. For this the timer or remote is a good tool as you are not shaking the camera to release the shutter. Also, this is a good place for manuel focus. I have not yet mastered this, although I have taken lots and lots of shots. I read Pekka's comment recently about focusing on a comic page at the same distance which sounds like something I would try. Also, you might want to focus on the most close part of your subject as the depth of field tends to extend backward further.

The beauty of Digital is the ability to take lots of shots and practice. I like to take a lot of shots with all different settings and focus to see what works. With that tactic, I almost always get a keeper.:)

Bottomline to this rambling is.... buy a tripod that is steady and take lots of shots. It will happen!
THEN post some!

[PatrickH]

Thanks Eric, I've done lots of research into the focusing issue and I think that sometimes this just compounds my camera shake problem.

Interestingly, I've just started using BreezeBrowser to more easily examine my shots and the EXIF data and on several distant shots of buildings and sky it is showing subject distance as e.g. 0.667m, or 2.406m, when clearly the subject is either 20-30m away, or infinity (the sky).

Any thoughts? This has me somewhat confused since there is absolutely no foreground detail in these shots.

[Eric F.]

Patrick,

I too have noticed this when looking at the data. Unfortunately, I am not analytical in my camera approach and I don't know the answer. There are serveral others who contribute to this forum who should be able to step in here.

My approach is more of a expermentation style. Take lots of shots and hope one turns out. That is the great thing about digital, 1 or 100 shot cost the same.

[philgabe]

I read your post and don't have a G1, so bear with me, but I have a couple ideas that can help.

1. Are your pictures "out of focus" or "not sharp enough"? These are two different things. I'm assuming that they're really out of focus rather than "not sharp enough", but keep in mind that even a well focused picture may require further sharpening in PS to really look sharp (I use a D30 which produces rather soft and unsharpened pictures even when perfectly focused. A little bit of contrast enhancement and small amount of unsharp mask in PS is all it takes to get a perfectly sharp looking picture. I don't know how the G1 compares in term of in-camera sharpening, but this could contribure to the softness of the image).

2. At 1/200 you may not have enough shutter speed to really "freeze" movement of a moving object. Even if you hold the camera "perfectly" still (i.e., use a tripod), the speed of the subject affects the shutter speed you need to freeze the action. As a general rule I don't go below 1/250 (and use 1/500 if possible). An acceptable trade-off with the D30 (again, I have no experience with G1) is to increase the ISO speed to 200 or even 400 to allow for faster shutter speed and get good freezing of the action. The D30 has very low noise at ISO 100 and 200, and low noise at ISO 400. Although you may give up a little bit of visual quality on large prints of your pictures, you gain in having more pictures in-focus.

3. Whenver possible use fill-flash or flash. That also helps freeze a moving subject (just make sure the subject is within the range of the flash light....). The D30 allows for high-speed flash sync. where you can have shutter speed of 1/500 or higher and flash together...that gives great results for moving subjects such as playing children.

4. If your pictures are out of focus on subjects that are still, it could be (i) the camera autofocus gets it wrong, (ii) you're moving. If its (ii), then either use a tripod or increase shutter speed. If it's (i), focus manually or figure out why the camera's autofocus gets it wrong (I have no idea what kind of autofocus system the G1 has).

5. Finally, I don't know what the shutter lag of the G1 is, but what happened to me when I started using the D30 was not forget about the shutter lag and start moving my hands before the shutter lag had fully kicked in and the picture had been taken. I also ended up with a number of blurred pictures because of that. It took me a little while to get used to that lag I wasn't used to with film cameras.

If you think that you're a "shaking hand" photographer, you could also use a monopod, it helps stabilize the camera and is a more "portable" solution than a tripod when you're shooting away from home.